Mary Ann’s POV
The Nightveil messenger remained on one knee outside my sitting room.
Dirt covered his uniform. Blood stained the edge of his sleeve, though I could not tell whether it belonged to him. His breathing came hard, as if he had ridden without stopping from the ruins.
“Say it again,” I ordered.
His head lifted.
“Cassius Vale escaped custody before sunrise.”
The words felt colder the second time.
Beside me, Modric finished fastening his trousers and pulled a dark shirt over his shoulders. Only a few minutes earlier, we had been asleep in the same bed after choosing a future together.
Now Cassius had entered it without crossing the threshold.
Not physically.
But his presence filled the room immediately.
Threat.
War.
Another attempt to control what came next.
“How?” Mo
